1969 Porsche 911 Carrera

1969 Porsche 911 carrera

If you've been following along on social media, you'll already know we have some great shoots to share over the coming weeks. I just have to get through covering the Concorso d'Eleganza Villa d'Este this weekend, and we'll have some more fresh content for you all. In the meantime, I wanted to post this beautiful "weekend racer" from the always tasteful crew over at Cool&Vintage.If you aren't yet familiar with them, they have a reputation for selling remarkable vintage cars, and always making sure there are some affordable options in stock that might surprise you. I think it's the beautiful media they create to showcase their listings that really separates them from the pack. It's not rocket science - taking the best photos you can of your stock should be rule number one for dealers, but we all know that's not the case.

Maybe it's just me, but if you snap some overexposed shots of your cars with an iPhone, you come across as lazy, and disengaged with the whole process of selling cars. Having sold cars at an upmarket dealership in the past, I know the type. A general manager sits staring at his stock list each morning in despair, referring to cars by their number plates, telling the salespeople to sell a particular car because they have another coming in just like it in a few days. Whatever passion they had for cars has been bludgeoned out of them by the manufacturer, the owner of the dealership, and endless sales meetings about prep costs, sales margins, and cash flow. The best salespeople will ignore these types, treat each customer as the individuals with their own dreams and desires for their next car, but it doesn't always work. In an effort to please higher-ups, I'd see nice salespeople turn greedy from time to time, and try and persuade folks that they knew best. Forget what you thought you wanted after your hours of research online, they have something they think you'll really like - right this way sir.

Gives me the creeps just thinking about it, and I know alot of you would have your own stories about less-than-stellar dealership experiences. That's part of the reason I'm following the ongoing Tesla "direct sale" saga playing out in the states with such interest. It's really quite a fascinating struggle between the entrenched dealership system and a new way of thinking. It's a rather extreme example, but clearly people desire a significant change from the dealers of old. There are too many in existence who have lost (if they ever had any to begin with) their love of driving, and now see cars as hunks of metal and glass - simply an opportunity to sell finance, car insurance, and absurdly-priced paint protection products.

Thankfully, that couldn't be further from the case with C&V. They're just real driving enthusiasts with a passion for finding the best examples of rare and sporting vintage cars. They go all out in their search for the best stock, then spend all day and night photographing (and sometimes, like today, filming as well) their newest acquisitions so they can share the car's story to potential customers and their fans on Facebook. They make it easy to fall in love all over again. As we do with our auction highlights, we'll pick the ones that are shot beautifully and have an interesting story behind them.

I chose to highlight this extensively modified (seriously folks, while not quite at Singer levels, the details throughout are incredible) Carrera for the balance it strikes as a restomod. Minimal changes to the classic styling, with a ton of upgrades mechanically underneath that bright orange paint. It's the same approach as I'm taking with my own rebuild of a 1969 Alfa Romeo. I want that perfect and minimalist design, RWD and unfettered steering feel, but with a hotter engine (uprated cams, pistons, valves, and conrods), more capable suspension, and strong and progressive brakes that I can count on. I've been waffling on for long enough, and you need to see these photos. So no exhaustive rundown of the details of this build, just a link to the full list of modifications hereif you're interested in finding out more.